[March CCOS] Alvedaen, the Ruined King
Image credit goes to the original artist.
LORE Long ago, before the Shadow Isles were known as such, legends tell of a benevolent king by the name of Alvedaen. The king was a decent man, and he presided over his kingdom with the assistance of his Queen, Celia. Together, they led their kingdom through its most fruitful period in a hundred years, leaving the fields full of crop, the citizens with more food and coin than they could ever want, and the future looking bright.
Then, one morning, the Queen did not awaken from her night’s slumber, and no amount of jostling could rouse her from her sleep. The source of this mysterious circumstance was never determined, but it was the beginning of the end for Alvedaen, the kingdom, and all inhabitants of the islands. Every alchemist, mage, and healer of any sort was commissioned by the king to bring the queen back from the precipice between life and death, but each and every attempt was met with utter failure.
After months of searching, the state of the kingdom had declined terribly. The king had taken to spending the majority of his time locked away in his study, grasping to find something, anything that might lead to a cure. Any and all requests made of the king for guidance or help were quickly turned away, leading the citizenry to revolt, and a large conflict erupted between the kingdom’s armies and its citizens. Throughout the unrest, Alvedaen never wavered. Until he found it, a glimmer of hope. A ritual, intended to raise the dead.
He enlisted the aid of his most trusted mages in order to enact the ritual, and ruthlessly slaying any who dared to refuse his call for help. The benevolent king he was before had been washed away by his fervent need to save the one he loved, by any means necessary, even if it meant sacrificing himself and his kingdom to do it. And as it so happened, that was exactly the price. Upon completion of the ritual, an ominous Black Mist surged forth from the land, draining the life energy of whatever it touched, be it the land itself or the denizens of the kingdom. From that day forth, those islands were forever known as the Shadow Isles, and have come to be home to all manner of spirits and undead.
And now, the king himself, Alvedaen, has appeared once more from the Black Mist, the army that once served him in life following him even in death. His crusade is no longer to restore his beloved to life, but to remedy the imperfection that is mortality for the rest of Runeterra, and extend the influence of the Shadow Isles to include all the lands of the living.
“Beware the march of the Unliving. We are eternal, we are unyielding, we are Legion, and all shall know our glory.” -Alvedaen
ABILITIES
http://s391.photobucket.com/user/Dyslexai/media/Legion%20From%20the%20Mist.jpg.html?o=5 Passive - Legion From the Mists Alvedaen commands his lost Legionnaires in battle, and can have up to 3 Legionnaires active at once. Attacks from Legionnaires deal a small flat amount of damage, plus a small amount of the target's missing health as physical damage. Legionnaires have HP equal to 15% of Alvedaen's max HP, and will reanimate at their points of death 14s after being slain, at a cost of 3.5% of Alvedaen's current HP.
Damage: 10/25/45/60 +1/1.2/1.3/1.5% target's missing HP (Legionnaires take 50% damage from AoE effects)
Ideally, Legionnaires should strike a good balance between Yorick's gung-ho ghouls playstyle and Azir's more calculated soldier attacks. Legionnaires never expire, and reanimate at the place they were killed. This means that Alvedaen must be very aware of where his troops are, as they can easily die as soon as they recover, costing him a chunk of health, and a good part of his combat ability.
Q - All Shall Kneel http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo351/Dyslexai/AllShallKneel_Phalanx.jpg Phalanx: Alvedaen and all active Legionnaires drive their blades into the ground for a brief moment, releasing a wave of Black Mist. Enemies hit by Alvedaen's mist wave take moderate damage and are briefly rooted. Enemies hit by mist waves from Legionnaires are slowed for a moderate duration.
The cooldown of All Shall Kneel is reduced by 1s for each mist wave that hits a champion.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo351/Dyslexai/All%20Shall%20Kneel.jpg?1426120779217&1426120780507 Echelon: Alvedaen commands his Legionnaires to march toward a target point for 4s, ignoring minions and prioritizing champions and structures with their attacks. During this time, attacks from Legionnaires apply a stack of "Duress" up to 4 on a single target. Alvedaen's basic attacks can consume all 4 stacks to deal a moderate amount of bonus damage and stun the target, returning health equal to the damage dealt and reducing the cooldown of All Shall Kneel by 2s.
Cooldown: 9s Health Cost: 8% Current HP Damage (Phalanx): 60/95/130/165/200 (+10% Alvedaen's max HP) Root Duration (Phalanx): 1s Slow Duration (Phalanx): 2.5s Slow Amount (Phalanx): 25/30/35/40/45% AoE (Phalanx): 300 Duress Bonus Damage (Echelon): 30/50/70/90/110 Stun Duration (Echelon): 0.4/0.45/0.5/0.55/0.6
All Shall Kneel provides Alvedaen's only methods of crowd control, in addition to allowing him much greater control over his Legionnaires than champions like Yorick, who must rely on the Ghoul AI to do what they intended. The philosophy behind the Echelon effect and Duress is that he should not be able to get the stun and lifedrain without having his Legionnaires attack the target first. This is to push Alvedaen players to rely on and efficiently manage their Legionnaires.
W - Combat Formation (Phalanx/Echelon) Alvedaen commands his Legionnaires to assume one of two combat formations, changing the functionality of All Shall Kneel and granting a persistent stat bonus to Alvedaen and his Legionnaires based on their formation.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo351/Dyslexai/Phalanx.jpg?1426120779216&1426120780506 Phalanx: The Legionnaires assume a defensive Phalanx formation around Alvedaen, granting him a small amount of additional armor, magic resistance, and bonus health regeneration per active Legionnaire. Legionnaires lose the ability to attack normally while in this formation, but will regenerate 10% of their hp per second and take 20% reduced damage.
http://s391.photobucket.com/user/Dyslexai/media/Echelon.jpg.html?o=1 Echelon: The Legionnaires spread out around Alvedaen and begin automatically acquiring targets that come within a 400 radius of Alvedaen, and will attack the same target as Alvedaen. Alvedaen and all Legionnaires gain slightly increased damage and lifesteal per active Legionnaire while in this formation.
Cooldown: 3/2.5/2/1.5/1 Bonus Armor/MR (Phalanx): 3/3.5/4/4.5/5 Bonus HP regeneration (Phalanx): 0.5/0.75/1/1.25/1.5 Bonus Damage (Echelon): 1/2.5/4/5.5/7 Bonus Lifesteal (Echelon): 1/1.5/2/2.5/3%
Having different combat formations for different situations further solidifies the idea that Alvedaen should not be able to properly function without his Legionnaires. I intend to make sure his base stats are all on the low end of the spectrum in order to compensate for the amount of stats he will gain from his Legionnaires over the course of the game.
http://s391.photobucket.com/user/Dyslexai/media/March%20of%20the%20Unliving.jpg.html?o=2 E - March of the Unliving Passive: Increases the number of Legionnaires Alvedaen can control at once, and reduces their reanimation timers by a set amount.
Active: Instantly summons a Legionnaire Banneret at target location, regardless of Alvedaen's unit cap. The Banneret persists for 4s, and grants Legionnaires within 250 radius of it a moderate movement speed boost that decays over 2s. The Banneret cannot move or attack, and has HP equal to 5% of Alvedaen's maximum health.
Cooldown: 16/15/14/13/12 Health Cost: 8% Current HP Speed Boost: 20/25/30/35/40% Additional Legionnaires: 1/1/2/2/3 Legionnaire Respawn Adjustment: -1/2/3/4/5s
March of the Unliving's active component, the Banneret, will give Alvedaen better consistency with catching enemies with his ultimate and improves troop movement, while the passive component gives him additional Legionnaires and gives them more uptime. Leveling this skill should create a decision point around focusing your damage on having lots of Legionnaires, or using Q for everything. Banneret also provides Alvedaen's only form of mobility, leaving him very open when it is on cooldown.
http://s391.photobucket.com/user/Dyslexai/media/Sovereign%20Edict.jpg.html?o=3 R - Sovereign Edict Alvedaen commands the Legionnaire closest to the targeted point to walk toward that point and explode in a blast of swirling mist after a 3 second countdown, killing that Legionnaire and dealing a moderate amount of physical damage to all enemies within 300 range. Legionnaires killed in this way will reanimate in half the normal amount of time with no health cost.
Legionnaires maintain full movement and attack capabilities during the countdown, and killing the Legionnaire before the countdown completes will instead cause a minor blast that deals 35% of normal damage in the same area.
Cooldown: 8 Health Cost: N/A Explosion Damage: 150/275/400 +(35% Total AD +15% Alvedaen's Max HP) Explosion AoE: 400
Sovereign Edict is a bit of a double-edged blade. Alvedaen sacrifices one of his Legionnaires to do heavy AoE damage to his enemies. While the Legionnaire is down, it does take away the stat bonus he would get from that Legionnaire, in addition to robbing him of its autoattacks for that time. Since the Legionnaires can still be killed normally, switching focus to the one that is about to explode will save a lot of damage, and also cause Alvedaen to incur the health penalty to revive that Legionnaire.
QUOTES AND EXTRAS
(March CCOS Bonus - Lucky Charm) An air of calm contentment filled the castle halls, the main banquet hall had been packed from wall to wall with crowds of people, all there to witness the royal wedding. The king, Alvedaen, and his bride were exchanging vows and gifts, as was their custom. The soon-to-be-queen, Celia, opened the ornate wooden box on the table beside her and retrieved from within a small, brightly glowing jewel.
".. And to you, Alvedaen, I would give my most precious heirloom. This crystal has served my family well through the years, the light it emits can combat the heavy fog that so often hangs over our islands. I pray it helps you find your way through the fog, and create a better kingdom for everyone." She spoke as she gazed at her new husband, who accepted the gift gracefully.
"Celia, my love... You honor me with this, I shall cherish it forever. But you... will forever be my guiding light."
Even today, the crystal lends Alvedaen a light, a path through the mists that have consumed him. Though it has dimmed considerably since his return, Alvedaen believes that following the crystal will lead him back to his Queen, and show him the path to rule.
This is the song that inspired me to create Alvedaen's certain brand of squad combat and minionmancy, I figure a few people might enjoy it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV_94f3CsPQ
SAMPLE QUOTES
(Selection) There can be but ONE king...
(Movement) We depart. Our march is unending. As decreed. Move out! Marching formation! The black mist calls...
(Attacking) You shall kneel.. in pieces! On me, Legion! Let none survive. This is beneath me. Let none escape our wrath.. Submit, fool!
(Rarely, upon losing a Legionnaire) ... Pathetic excuse for a soldier. Your duty has not yet been fulfilled...
(Rarely, upon a Legionnaire reanimating nearby) Rise... from your grave. My ranks swell once more!
(Taunt) My Legion shall overwhelm you... Feel free to bring your little friends as well. Soon, you shall witness the power of the Unliving, and then... you shall experience it.
(Joke) (One legionnaire slams his shield into another Legionnaire at the king's command) Stwike him, centuwion! Vewy woughly!
(Taunts against Shadow Isles Champions) That shell suits you, Mordekaiser. A pity we should meet as enemies... Hecarim, my general! This is high treason, the penalty shall be death. Let us settle our differences as gentlemen, Yorick. My army against yours.
